Choppysocks
Real Horrorshow
I've never even heard of the fair usage policies! Surely if you pay for it then it shouldnt matter how much you use??
A reprieve...
- Thread starter Pick-a-Lily
- Start date
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Pepsidoodle
Registered Shopper
Its very naughty that they don't warn you
I've read about fair usage a-g-e-s ago & never thought it could be me, as rocks.tv is the only thing I watch
I will read it again though & possibly attempt to e-mail them
I've read about fair usage a-g-e-s ago & never thought it could be me, as rocks.tv is the only thing I watch
I will read it again though & possibly attempt to e-mail them
S
Snoopy
Guest Shopper
That's what gets me Choppy Virgin or Blueyonder as it was then had UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS in huge red text at the top of every bill or letter they sent the fair usage part was on the back in tiny text along with a load of rubbish that no one ever reads.
L
Liam
Guest Shopper
For those of you that don't want to read the technical stuff, here's the conclusion:
Want more details? Read on.
Just thought I'd post some technical info to clear up all the confusion surrounding Virginmedia Internet.
I've run some bandwidth tracking tests this evening (I use Virginmedia myself)
VirginMedia have several different Internet packages. Each package has it's own "Limit" of downstream data that can be used between 4pm and 10pm. These limits are as followes:
Size:M 300MB down, 150MB up (speed after you reach your limit: 1Mb/sec download)
Size:L 800MB down, 400MB up (speed after you reach your limit: 2.5Mb/sec download)
Size:XL 3GB down, 1.25GB up (speed after you reach your limit: 5Mb/sec download)
So, after tracking my bandwidth whilst watching Rocks TV (High quality Video); the stream uses an average of 3.5 MB per minute. That's about 210 MB per hour.
That means if you watch Rocks TV for around 1 hour 20 minutes whilst subscribed to the "Size M" broadband package - your speed will be halved.
To watch an entire Rocks TV (from 5pm-11pm) show will use around 1.26GB (1260 MB). For those of you who claim to be on the "Top Package" will not even come half way to using your 3GB allowance for the day. It sounds more like someone in your house is downloading naughty videos and not telling you!
For all Virginmedia users, there should not be ANY Problems watching Rocks. Even with the speed restrictions after reaching your limit - this still will NOT slow down the Rocks TV video which runs at 400-500Kbps (0.5 Mb/sec). Even on size M, with your cap at 1Mb/s (after being reduced), this still leaves you 0.5 Mb/sec to play with!
- Watching an entire Rocks TV show will use around 1260MB of bandwidth.
- The top VirginMedia package (XL) will never reach it's cap through watching Rocks TV.
- Even on the cheapest VirginMedia package - reaching your limit will not result in choppy or slow video. Rocks TV runs at 0.5 Mb/s, and your capped speed for the cheapest package is 1 Mb/sec after you reach your limit.
Want more details? Read on.
Just thought I'd post some technical info to clear up all the confusion surrounding Virginmedia Internet.
I've run some bandwidth tracking tests this evening (I use Virginmedia myself)
VirginMedia have several different Internet packages. Each package has it's own "Limit" of downstream data that can be used between 4pm and 10pm. These limits are as followes:
Size:M 300MB down, 150MB up (speed after you reach your limit: 1Mb/sec download)
Size:L 800MB down, 400MB up (speed after you reach your limit: 2.5Mb/sec download)
Size:XL 3GB down, 1.25GB up (speed after you reach your limit: 5Mb/sec download)
So, after tracking my bandwidth whilst watching Rocks TV (High quality Video); the stream uses an average of 3.5 MB per minute. That's about 210 MB per hour.
That means if you watch Rocks TV for around 1 hour 20 minutes whilst subscribed to the "Size M" broadband package - your speed will be halved.
To watch an entire Rocks TV (from 5pm-11pm) show will use around 1.26GB (1260 MB). For those of you who claim to be on the "Top Package" will not even come half way to using your 3GB allowance for the day. It sounds more like someone in your house is downloading naughty videos and not telling you!
For all Virginmedia users, there should not be ANY Problems watching Rocks. Even with the speed restrictions after reaching your limit - this still will NOT slow down the Rocks TV video which runs at 400-500Kbps (0.5 Mb/sec). Even on size M, with your cap at 1Mb/s (after being reduced), this still leaves you 0.5 Mb/sec to play with!
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M
Marion
Guest Shopper
What a nuisance P.a.L.
We were away for 5 weeks last winter and we still exceeded our allowance, go figure.
Not read the whole thread, so sorry if this had been mentioned.
But you can dowload a little programme called Netmeter, so you can keep an eye on your own usage and see if it tallies with what they say you use.
We're with BT though.
We were away for 5 weeks last winter and we still exceeded our allowance, go figure
.Not read the whole thread, so sorry if this had been mentioned.
But you can dowload a little programme called Netmeter, so you can keep an eye on your own usage and see if it tallies with what they say you use
.We're with BT though.
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sweetpea
Registered Shopper
Very informative Liam...thank you
I was going to say that I am with VM,the 20mb VIP package and I have not come across any problems,and I watch the full show in high quality stream.
I hope others get their problems sorted but i don't think it's rocks causing the problems.
I was going to say that I am with VM,the 20mb VIP package and I have not come across any problems,and I watch the full show in high quality stream.
I hope others get their problems sorted but i don't think it's rocks causing the problems.
L
Liam
Guest Shopper
Very informative Liam...thank you
I was going to say that I am with VM,the 20mb VIP package and I have not come across any problems,and I watch the full show in high quality stream.
I hope others get their problems sorted but i don't think it's rocks causing the problems.
Could be a number of things. Bad wireless connection, Spyware on PC, out-dated version of Flash, Viruses, old PCs, Too many processes (programs) running. Peer to peer software (Music sharing, etc). It's definitely not related to Rocks.TV or Virginmedia, though.
L
Liam
Guest Shopper
Oh, well that's cr*p then
Hubby watches and downloads loads of stuff and we haven't been chopped down.....yet
Maybe it's our turn next.
Just to add onto that - when you do get capped, its only for 4 hours. After this your normal speed resumes
Pepsidoodle
Registered Shopper
I think my old man of a pc was having a grumble
. The usual log off and on seemed to sorted it for me last night. Thanks for the extra info Liam. Saves me wasting my hol on brain numbing stuff lol
Pick-a-Lily
was that summer?
FAO Liam for clarification.
We do not live in a cabled area, therefore have the top package available to us down the telephone line.
My husband works on the technical team for VM and therefore knows exactly what the problem is here. He is very clear that we have been using heavily, and that is why we have been restricted - we have not been capped, as VM stand by their policy of 'unlimited downloads', we have just been restricted between 4pm - Midnight, as I stated, in line with their traffic mamagement policy.
This is evidently not just because of me watching Rocks, but also because as part of his work he uses our domestic broadband connection for testing purposes. However, my recent addiction to watching Rocks has apparently elevated us into VM's top 5% of users for this week. This is all completely in accordance with VM's fair usage poilicy, but you will find it in small print and not emblazoned in big red letters on the top of every advert, which is why I was unaware there could be a problem.
Thanks for your advice, which is always welcome. I'm glad to hear that our usage may not be representative of that of Joe Public, and that others should not have the same problem.
However, I do rather resent your inference that I had not told the truth and/or that someone is downloading naughty videos! My computer 'housekeeping' is also up to date, thankyou.
We do not live in a cabled area, therefore have the top package available to us down the telephone line.
My husband works on the technical team for VM and therefore knows exactly what the problem is here. He is very clear that we have been using heavily, and that is why we have been restricted - we have not been capped, as VM stand by their policy of 'unlimited downloads', we have just been restricted between 4pm - Midnight, as I stated, in line with their traffic mamagement policy.
This is evidently not just because of me watching Rocks, but also because as part of his work he uses our domestic broadband connection for testing purposes. However, my recent addiction to watching Rocks has apparently elevated us into VM's top 5% of users for this week. This is all completely in accordance with VM's fair usage poilicy, but you will find it in small print and not emblazoned in big red letters on the top of every advert, which is why I was unaware there could be a problem.
Thanks for your advice, which is always welcome. I'm glad to hear that our usage may not be representative of that of Joe Public, and that others should not have the same problem.
However, I do rather resent your inference that I had not told the truth and/or that someone is downloading naughty videos! My computer 'housekeeping' is also up to date, thankyou.
L
Liam
Guest Shopper
However, I do rather resent your inference that I had not told the truth and/or that someone is downloading naughty videos! My computer 'housekeeping' is also up to date, thankyou.
Hehe. You never know these days!
And yes, my reply was for those using Cable from Virginmedia. Unfortunately, ADSL is another story. Using tatty old copper lines is never good! Do VM employees not get special packages to bypass heavy usage restrictions? If not, I'd start demanding
